1 » It has been a busy last few days in Gainesville, FL for Florida Gators hoping to continue their football careers and be selected in the 2013 NFL Draft. On Friday, defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, linebacker Lerentee McCray and wide receiver Omarius Hines (who just ran the 40-yard dash in an effort to improve his time) participated in a private Pro Day on campus. Floyd and McCray both sat out Florida’s first Pro Day on March 12. According to NFL.com, 14 teams were in Gainesville to watch Floyd including the Oakland Raiders (No. 3 overall pick) with general manager Reggie McKenzie. NFL Network was there to watch Floyd; this report (which was followed by a lengthy discussion) was aired on Friday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter added that, on Monday, a collection of officials from the Kansas City Chiefs (No. 1 overall pick) – including general manager John Dorsey – held a private workout with Floyd.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was also in Gainesville over the weekend first to watch his daughter (an assistant coach for Ohio State’s lacrosse team) on Saturday and then to hold a private workout with five Florida players on Sunday, OGGOA has learned. Participating in Sunday’s private workout were McCray, linebackers Jon Bostic and Jelani Jenkins, safety Josh Evans and defensive lineman Earl Okine. The only other person in attendance to watch the workouts was Belichick’s right-hand man, New England director of player personnel Nick Caserio.

Read three more BITS of Florida Gators news…after the break!
2 » Speaking of the Patriots, running back Jeff Demps continues to paint a very strange picture as it pertains to his interest in continuing his career as a football player. Earlier this month, Demps informed New England that he would like to continue pursuing track despite less than one year ago saying he had given up the sport in order to play in the NFL. In an interview with SportsTalk Florida a few days ago, Demps was asked what he would say to Belichick if he gets the chance to speak to him about his situation. “Listen coach, I want to do both, but in order for me to get to where I want to be on the track and field side, it’ll take a full year of preparation. And after the (track) season, if you guys are willing to let me come back, you know, probably midseason, and work out and train and get ready for the season, I’ll be able to do that. If not, then I guess I’ll just focus on running,” he replied.

Demps then went on to say that he would likely miss 3-5 games before returning to the team and did not fear if this decision forced his football carer to come to an end. “No, not really,” he said. “If I’m not able to do football anymore, it’s kind of like I’m just opening up another chapter of my life, and it’s on the track and field side. Like I said, I’ll be a rookie in the game, and I still have a lot to learn, even though I did it for four years in college and throughout high school. I still haven’t seen or ran with any other big-name guys or the top guys in the world. I’m looking forward to it, I’m definitely looking forward to it.” Demps, who signed a three-year contract with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2012 (he would have been drafted had he previously decided to focus on football and not track before changing his mind), was stashed on New England’s injured reserve last season and never played a down outside of the preseason.

3 » With seemingly everyone jumping on the bandwagon for the 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, the three-seed Gators got a shred of national love on Monday night when WWE superstar Titus O’Neil (former Florida defensive end Thaddeus Bullard rooted for the Gators and did a Gator Chomp on WWE Active. Though it may be a far cry from having 4,000 new fans chanting “[expletive] the Gators” live on ESPN for nearly 20 seconds on ESPN [Warning: Explicit language], O’Neil is wearing a Florida football T-shirt and supporting his university to a national audience [Video].

4 » Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace and Golden State Warriors power forward David Lee got in a bit of a heated exchange on Monday that concluded with the former rubbing the latter’s head only to receive a death stare before Lee was pulled away by the teammate. The Warriors were beating the Lakers by 20 points at the time, and Lee finished the game with – you guessed it – another double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds. [Animated GIF via USA Today via @cjzero]

ABOUT US

OnlyGators.com (a/k/a ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive, Only Gators, OGGOA, OG) is an independent website owned by Only Gators, LLC. It is not affiliated in any way with the University of Florida, University Athletic Association or Florida Gators.